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National Hockey League (NHL)

By now last night’s Stanley Cup game seven setback to the St. Louis Blues has officially set in for all of us. And it is a tough pill to swallow.

Waking up this morning was not as easy as it was yesterday – we were all excited for a seventh game, as well as the post-game celebration that would extend deep into the night and early this morning.

But instead, myself, along with other devoted Boston Bruins fans, were treated to a sight we may have not expected, a Blues victory, which included players, coaches, and various personnel skating around the TD Garden late last night celebrating the franchise’s initial championship.

And while St. Louis is certainly not singing the blues today, Boston is mourning a loss for a team that struggled to convey to reporters what exactly this setback means to both them and their fanbase.

Hearing stories from the locker room of players weeping to those that struggled to string together enough sentences for reporters certainly made me sympathize for them, but also made me realize how lucky we were as a fanbase to cheer on a dedicated group of hockey players for the past two months.

The Bruins captivated our attention every day by scoring impressive wins over the Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Carolina Hurricanes. We also celebrated some exciting wins against the Blues, as well, including a 7-2 thrashing in the third game, which provided Boston with a 2-1 advantage.

But our hometown team’s five-goal route was quickly forgotten a few days later when St. Louis rallied to win both games four and five, which ignited an early celebration for numerous Blues fans this past weekend. And while St. Louis was eager to begin a long-awaited celebration on Sunday, they were instead forced to wait an additional 72 hours before popping champaign due to Boston’s game six victory.

St. Louis will celebrate this win every day this summer, as well as think about it when they reconvene for the start of the National Hockey League‘s (NHL) 2019-20 season.

The loss to the Blues will resonate with us all for days, weeks and months, but the good news is another season will be here before we know it.

In the meantime, we have the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots to help us cope with a disappointing finish, along with with Anthony Davis trade talk, too – hello, Boston Celtics fans. And of course, there is the World Cup, as well, but we will certainly miss our mid-week and weekend hockey games that meant something.

We will have games that mean something again soon, Boston Bruins fans. And when they do mean something, you, I and others will gather around the television eager to cheer on our beloved hockey team to victory.

No matter how you cope with this particular loss, just know one thing, it was a heck of a run and a fun season. And despite the outcome, I am eager for more hockey.

@NoontimeHockey, which fans can follow on Twitter, will be your new source for New England hockey coverage, ranging from the Boston Bruins to college, high school and prep. Additionally, we also hope to provide some junior hockey coverage, as well, so stay tuned.

Similar to our other sports-related accounts – basketball, football, and lacrosse – this will be your go-to for scores, in-game updates, and stories, as well as some videos, too.

Adding hockey coverage is something we have been pondering here in the Noontime Sports office as we know how much this sport means to our region. As many New Englanders know, hockey is woven into the six New England states, and we certainly look forward to telling stories from numerous rinks soon.

So, make sure to toss @NoontimeHockey a follow today and let us know why you love hockey!

In a few hours, we will be treated to a seventh game of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Stanley Cup Finals when the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues collide on Causeway Street.

Are you excited?

It feels like its been years since the Bruins last skated in a seventh game of the Stanley Cup Finals, but it actually occurred eight years ago when the Bruins clinched the series with a convincing 4-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks.

The four-goal win over the Canucks is the Bruins’ lone game seven victory in franchise history. The Blues have never skated in a game seven, so the arrow should favor the Bruins, not the team from St. Louis, once the puck is dropped.

Game seven is not new to the Boston Celtics, who have won this particular contest seven times in franchise history, including the final game of the 1984 National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Final, which happened to occur on the same date as this evening’s series finale. Boston defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, 111-102, to clinch the series – it was the last time a professional team in this city captured their league’s respective crown in the Bay State.

The Boston Red Sox have also competed in the seventh game of the World Series, but haven’t been as successful as the Bruins and Celtics. Since 1986, the Red Sox are 1-5 in the seventh game of a World Series, including 1912 when they lost to the New York Giants before clinching the championship one day later in the eighth game. Yes, some World Series needed eight games to decide a winner.

Boston’s lone seventh game win in a World Series occurred in 1903 when they were called the Boston Americans. They beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-3, before clinching the franchise’s initial championship one day later with a 3-0 victory.

Excluding 1903 and 1912, game seven has not been kind to the hometown ballclub as they lost the series in 1946, 1967, 1975, and 1986. Two of those series happened to be against the St. Louis Cardinals. But luckily, those series are in the past as Boston has beaten the Cardinals twice in the current century.

The New England Patriots have never experienced as a seventh game because the National Football League (NFL) is all about one-game playoff series, not three, five or seven. But if the Patriots played a seven-game series, I would pick New England to win.

Game seven is often a contest many sports fans remember. And I bet there will be some amazing moments (and memories) this evening between the Bruins and Blues that will be discussed for years to come.

I am excited – why not have a seventh game to decide this particular series? – but also nervous at the same time. I believe the Bruins can win this evening but also think the Blues could steal this one.

Boston has won six Stanley Cups. St. Louis has never won a Stanley Cup, so winning the series against the Bruins, who beat them in 1970, would certainly be satisfying for those decked out in Blue and Gold this evening.

We want the cup, we want a game seven victory, so here’s to hoping game seven will result in another win for a Boston winter team, which is accustomed to celebrating a championship once this contest concludes.

Happy Tuesday (and almost Fourth of July)! Hope everyone has some great plans in-store to celebrate America’s Birthday with family and friends tomorrow.

It has been a while since I did a quick check-in, so I thought, why not today?

The sports world is somewhat in a holding pattern as we anxiously await the start of another football season, but there is some news from the NBA about two well-known players changing teams: LeBron James is now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers while DeMarcus Cousins inked his name to a contract with the Golden State Warriors.

Sure, more news will come from the NBA world over the next few days and weeks, and hopefully my Boston Celtics can lock-up Marcus Smart for another year or two, so he can help the Green and White take down the Philadelphia 76ers in next year’s Eastern Conference Finals.

But enough about the NBA, let me switch gears to an update on where Noontime Sports is headed over the next few months and what you can expect from both our blog and social media channels going forward.

More Feature Stories: We will be producing long-form stories from the New England (and northeast) baseball, basketball, football, hockey, lacrosse and soccer worlds, which will be similar to what I produced over the past three years on the Amherst College football and Babson College field hockey teams.

New England Top 10 Polls: The New England Top 10s on basketball, football and lacrosse will return once again this school year, so make sure to stay tuned for our initial poll of the 2018-19 school year next month.

Stay Social: In case you missed it (or did not know), we recently launched a few new Twitter handles that focus on baseball, hockey and soccer. You should definitely click follow because these channels will be producing content all about their sports. Additionally, these channels will be our go-to for game coverage, stories, links and videos. We will make sure to give you a heads-up on our main Twitter handle (@NoontimeSports) which handle you should follow for in-game updates, scores and news.

Pro, Prep School and High Schools will be included in our 2018-19 content coverage plan: When I first launched Noontime Sports in May 2009, my friends and I initially wrote blogs about pro sports. And while we used to include pro coverage before switching to just college sports, my thought is to welcome it back, but more in short or long-form pieces. Consider them more columns or opinion pieces. We also used to cover some high school sports when we launched, too, so one should expect some features on prep and high school teams this coming school year, as well. Our focus will remain on the college sports world, but expect to see some additional content on professional, prep and high school world.

We welcome story ideas or pitches for podcasts: Have a story idea or an idea for a podcast? Then let me know! Feel free to send me an email to MattNoonan@noontimesports.com. I would love to hear from you – any input is always welcome!

Well, that concludes my ‘editor’s note’ about some exciting content changes for Noontime Sports. I am really excited to branch out and tell some different stories, beginning later this summer. And as always, thank you for being amazing fans, friends and readers – I never would have imagined my tiny blog becoming what it is today, but that is due to the amazing support from all of you!

Have a great Fourth of July, as well as a wonderful summer, and I look forward to keeping you updated on the New England sports world later this week and beyond!

In case you missed it – or perhaps saw a new Twitter handle pop-up yesterday – we are excited to unveil @NoontimePuck, which will be keeping you updated on New England hockey.

The goal – similar to our other single-sports related Twitter handles – is to produce some engaging content that keeps you coming back for more. And since hockey is woven into our six New England states, it makes total sense to launch a Twitter handle that is all about … hockey!

So, make sure to toss our newest member of our Twitter family a follow, while lacing up those skates at the same time.